Fishing Boats
 

Are you supposed to engage and sink these convoys of fishing boats which pop up every once in a while?

There is no "supposed to". You can if you like, but it's not required.

I usually dont go for them but if one gets too close hes getting a taste of my 40mm AA gun :)

I like to turn any sailing boats I see into a hood decoration :cool:

Historically, US subs often did. They weren't exactly prime targets, but particularly late in the war when better targets were harder to come by, these were attacked. Since fishing = food for the enemy, many US skippers obviously considered these attacks worthwhile and justified.

Yes i engage them everytime i am in Japanese Waters, they provide food to the enemy! The only fisherboats i dont destroy are those in Philippine waters.

Yep. Good target practise for the deck gun!

Oooohhhh.... I might have to try this! Do you ever take any damage doing that?

How do you know which nationality they are? They usually don't show a flag.

There aren't going to be any British, French or Dutch fishing boats "in Japanese waters".

By questioning the survivors. :D



As far as I can tell, in game there are only enemy fishing boats. In reality, some subs would stop and search small boats, but I don't know how often it happened.

I just assume they are of the nationality of the nearest coastline. Sometimes this isn't clear though. There were Japanese, Korean, and Chinese boats plying the same areas. As far as the game is concerned, they are all the same, and will count as legit targets.

The Japanese navy also used some equipped with radios as spotters. They would put them out with the fishing fleets to try and hide them, figuring we would not attack fishermen.

Well as Sailor Steve already said, there are no allied Fishing Boats in and around Japanese Waters. For the greater immersion i dont shoot at Sampans in Philippine Waters so i can say to myself "they are smuggling food and ammo for the Phillippino resistance" ;)
IIRC in the Game the Fishing Boats and the Sampans are always Japanese no matter where you find them.

This is the exact same logic I use when I blast them with my deck gun. Guerre de Course includes all merchant vessels flying the enemy nation's flag, including "humble" fishing boats. :arrgh!: